Species Diversity

What is species?

• A set of individuals having the same distinct characteristics and able to mate and produce fertile offspring.

Species Diversity

• The number and variety of life forms present in a biological community

• About 8.7 million organism in our diversity

Species Richness – is the number of different kinds of species in a particular are.

Species evenness- is the abundance of the individual members within a particular species

Types of Species Based on General Ecological Niche

Ecological Niche- is the sum total of the way of life of a species including its survival, feeding, and reproductive abilities.

Generalist Species- have broad way of life, can live in a variety of environments, eat many kinds of different foods, often can tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions and produce more young.

Ex. Cockroaches, rats and man

Specialist species- live in a narrow niche- They are able to live in one habitat,

eat a specific food, sensitive to changes in the environment and usually produce new offspring

Ex. Panda bears- which eats only specific bamboo plant in china

Flamingo- which eat a specific crustacean

• These species are more vulnerable to extinction because of its limited survival characteristics

Types of Species Based on Specific Ecological niche

Native species- endemic or local- Are organisms that can only be

found in one place and nowhere elseEx. Philippine tamaraw (Bubalus

mindorensis)

Philippine Tarsier- the smallest primate in the world (Tarsius syrichta)

Philippine bamboo bat- the smallest bat in the world (Tylonycteris pachypus)

Nonnative species- exotic, invasive or alien-are species that migrates either accidentally

or deliberately introduced into a new ecosystem

Ex. Golden Apple Snail or Golden Kuhol (Pomacea canaliculata) – was introduced deliberately in the Philippines as an additional income to farmers.

- Today the Golden Kuhol is one of perennial pests in our rice paddies

Tilapia- is in fact not native to the Philippines but rather originated from Africa

Indicator Species- are species that act as biological smoke alarms because they give out warningsignals to other species of some damage to an ecosystem.

Ex. Birds and frog are excellent indicator species

• Approximately 70% of the 10,000 known bird species of the worlds are declining due to human activities.

• A recent decline in frog population has been suspected due to Global warming

Keystone Species- Exist only in limited numbers but their effect on the environment is great.

- They perform roles such as controlling the population of other species by eating sick and the old members

Ex. Sharks and alligators

Foundation Species- are organisms that helps create and reshape habitats and ecosystems.

Ex. Beaver makes dams as a protected area where it lives but the newly formed habitat also house other organisms such as birds, fish and insect